juncture

American  

[juhngk-cher] / ˈdʒʌŋk tʃər /

noun

1. a point of time, especially one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances.

   At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out.

2. a serious state of affairs; crisis.

   The matter has reached a juncture and a decision must be made.

3. the line or point at which two bodies are joined; joint or articulation; seam.

4. the act of joining.

5. the state of being joined.

6. something by which two things are joined.

7. Phonetics.

   1. a pause or other phonological feature or modification of a feature, as the lengthening of a preceding phoneme or the strengthening of a following one, marking a transition or break between sounds, especially marking the phonological boundary of a word, clause, or sentence: it is present in such words as night-rate and re-seed and absent in such words as nitrate and recede.

   2. the point in a word or group of words at which such a pause or other junctural marker occurs.

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juncture British  

/ ˈdʒʌŋktʃə /

noun

1. a point in time, esp a critical one (often in the phrase at this juncture )

2. linguistics

   1. a pause in speech or a feature of pronunciation that introduces, accompanies, or replaces a pause

   2. the set of phonological features signalling a division between words, such as those that distinguish a name from an aim

3. a less common word for junction

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juncture Idioms  

1. see at this point (juncture).

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Related Words

See junction.

Etymology

Origin of juncture

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin junctūra, equivalent to junct(us) ( junction ) + -ūra -ure

Example Sentences

That uptick has arrived as Young approaches a critical juncture in his young career.

From The Wall Street Journal

Identity is very much fluid at this historical juncture, when a man’s severed leg turns up in the belly of a dead shark and no one can identify it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Australia is at a "critical juncture" in its transition to a low-emissions future, said the Climate Change Authority, an independent advisory body to the government.

From Barron's

In Andy’s words, “we are at a fascinating juncture in the markets.”

From Barron's

This withdrawal of liquidity is already causing some tensions in the repo market that have not been witnessed since 2019 and this persuades Howell that stocks are not the right asset allocation at this juncture.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• crossroad